1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to fiber-optic connector inspection microscopes and more particularly to an adaptive device for shifting the imaging axis of a microscope across the endfaces of a multi-fiber connector for inspecting the fiber-optic endfaces through the microscope.
2. Description of the Related Art
The widespread implementation of fiber-optic communications for high-density interconnections has driven more and more multi-fiber connectors to be adopted in the industry. This creates an urgent need for regularly inspecting and maintaining the multi-fiber connectors in place, which are often situated behind backplanes or in locations which are very difficult to access.
It is well known in the fiber-optic communication industry that the endfaces of optical fibers within communication systems must be kept clean and undamaged, otherwise serious signal loss could result. The demand for cleanliness for fiber-optic endfaces has become even more stringent as the communication bandwidths increase and new communication technology requiring higher laser power is applied.
Many types of microscopes are already available for inspecting the endface of a fiber-optic connector to make sure the endface is undamaged and clean. Due to the need for sufficient magnification, the fiber-optic endface is typically inspected only one at a time. For example, the endface with a typical diameter of 0.125 mm can be inspected with a microscope with a field of view of about 0.3 mm×0.4 mm only one at a time. For a multi-fiber connector, with the centers of the fiber-optic endfaces spaced typically at 0.25 mm, the microscope must be able to scan from one side to the other side of the connector in order to inspect each of the fiber-optic endfaces. Therefore an adaptive device is needed to bring the fiber-optic endfaces one by one within the field of view of the microscope for inspection.
Cassady (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,751,017 and 6,879,439) discloses a microscope for inspecting fiber-optic endfaces in a multi-fiber connector. The microscope comprises a tip capable of interfacing with the multi-fiber connector, a slider assembly, a slider chassis and a drive assembly, in which the driver assembly interfaced with the slider assembly is capable of selectively displacing the slider chassis along an axis of motion to selectively direct the imaging axis of the microscope between adjacent fiber-optic endfaces.
The present invention provides a novel design for such a device, wherein a fitting tip is used to attach the device to the multi-fiber connector; a pendular arm is used to scan the endfaces to be inspected, a bevel wheel with a slanted or spiral surface is used to displace the pendular arm for aligning a microscope with individual endfaces.